WWII American Airman POW Red Cross Parcel

The contents of a typical Red Cross parcel received by an WWII American airman held prisoner in Stalag Luft I near Barth, Germany on the Baltic Sea. Recipients of these parcels were permitted to keep only the cigarettes and chocolate bars; the remainder of the parcel was turned over to the camp cook, who combined them with the contents of other parcels and German POW rations (usually bread, barley, potatoes, cabbage and horse meat) to create daily meals for the prisoners.